The New Recruits
Disclaimer: Language
Chapter 3
Ray looked at Maddison as she began to walk through the scene, noticing the sadness that she carried. He knew that she had lost her mother almost a year ago to an over dose of crystal meth. No matter how strong Susie tried to be, she couldn't keep her hands off the dope. Maddison had not taken after her mother in that aspect , but she did show her compassion that seemed to run through the Caine's side of the family as well. Focusing on the blue waters, Maddison spoke softly.
" Ray, I'm glad that you're here. I could always count on you to be there when I needed you."
" I was glad to be there for you, Maddie. So, I heard , Lieutenant, huh? Walking in our uncle's footsteps?" Ray said motioning to Horatio as he spoke to Speed and Jen Delko.
" Yeah, I rather his than my mother's," Maddison replied as she glanced over to her Uncle. He had been instrumental in helping raise her when her mother went back on the meth. She felt nothing but pride and adoration for him. " Talking about me. When did you get those?"
Ray looked down at his neck where he had deposited the black sunglasses and smirked. He couldn't hide his own pride for his uncle. He had looked up to him for so long. " These? I stole them from his house," Ray returned.
" Your kidding right?" Maddison said as she turned to him, flashing him a megawatt smile.
" You think I'm crazy to steal from Uncle H?"
" Yes. You are crazy enough to do anything. Remember when you stayed at Horatio's that summer?"
" And I cooked dinner for you?"
" Cooked ? More like destroyed! We had to bust our ass to clean his place up before he got home." Maddison said as she let a laugh escape.
" And he still found out. Boy did he let us have it," Ray replied wistfully. Then shaking himself out of it he asked, " Mad, what were you thinking putting Jen , RJ and Jacinda with their parents? Isn't that against department rules?"
" It isn't if I plan on splitting them into two shifts. I just wanted to get a feel for my investigators to see who works well with who."Maddison said as she walked towards the perimeter of the scene. " I know that I can't put RJ and his father on the same shift, they wouldn't last a day. Jacinda needs to have the night shift, I think she functions better away from her mother. Jen is the only one I could keep on the day shift. She and her father have no issues that I am aware of."
" When are you going to tell them?" Ray asked as he faced his sister.
" Let's see how fast they can solve this case first," Maddison said as she walked to meet Speed and Jen. Horatio had left, casing the scene by himself. Maddison gazed at him and thought to herself, Some things never change.
Ray watched her as she spoke to them and instructed them. He was so proud of her and the way she had handled everything that life threw at her. When she was five , she was stricken with some rare cancer that Ray himself was able to help her with by donating his bone marrow. Then she dealt with her mother through out her adolescence and finally Susie's death. Yes she had it hard, but she didn't let that get in her way.
As he turned to find Tripp, he heard a loud explosion as it ripped the scene apart, knocking him to the ground. It took him a few moments to gather himself, but as he stood he surveyed the damage done to the bridge. Thick black plumes drifted into the sky from the numerous vehicles that were parked at the scene. He could feel the heat as it radiated from the center of the blast which seemed to be positioned at the far left corner of the crime scene. Instantly his mind went to Maddison.
He walked slowly through the scene ,hearing nothing but silence and the crackling of the fires that raged on. He then spotted someone lying on their back gasping for air. Kneeling down he noticed as it was Jen.
" Jen? Can you hear me?" Ray asked looking her over. She had soot on her tan suit and blood dripped from her right ear.
" Mr. Speedle! He was right next to me. Is he okay?" Jen asked as she tried to get up.
" Whoa, wait a minute, Jen. Stay here. I'll go look for him. Can you do me a favor?"
" Yeah," Jen coughed.
Ray pulled her cell phone out and flipped it up, " Call 911. We are going to need a lot of ambulances."
Jen sat up and nodded as Ray got up and looked for more survivors. He meandered his way through the debris listening for any sounds. He then saw Tim Speedle lying on his stomach. A huge block of cement was on top of his ankle. Moving quickly , he checked his pulse, noticing that it was strong. He saw as Tim started moving.
" Wha- what happened... Shit!" Tim said as he felt the sharp pain shoot up his leg.
" Mr. Speedle, there was an explosion. You have a huge block of cement on your ankle. I'm going to try to move it."
" Is RJ okay?"
" I don't know,Mr. Speedle. But what's important right now is that we get this cement off of your ankle."
"O-okay." Tim said simply as he braced himself for the pain that was sure to come. Ray tried to lift it but he couldn't budge it. He then heard a voice as it approached.
" Dad! Dad are you okay?" RJ said as he dropped to his knees. He looked him over keenly, tears welling in his eyes.
" RJ ! Son are you okay?" Tim replied through the pain.
" Yeah . Calleigh and I were getting into to the Hummer when we saw the explosion." RJ explained. He then looked to Ray, " Have you found anyone else?"
" Jen's over there," Ray stated pointing to Jen . " RJ, we need to get this cement off of his ankle."
" Okay, Ray", RJ said as he positioned himself at the other edge of the stone. Together , they lifted the stone off of his ankle, then slid it to the opposite side. Then they turned him gently onto his back, watching as Tim winced in pain.
" RJ, stay with you father. I'm going to look for Maddison." Ray said as he got up. RJ sat next to Tim, holding his hand.
" I'm glad you're okay, son. I don't know how I could've told your mother about this." Tim said as he sat up. " Damn, this hurts like a son of a bitch."
" Be easy dad. I think it's crushed. You don't want to compound the problem," RJ said as he stood up. He thought he had heard something.
" RJ..."
"Shhh Dad. I hear something." RJ said as he walked to the source of the sound. Under a heap of rubble , he heard her voice. He could recognize it anywhere. It was Jacinda , and she was trapped.
Ray continued to walk for what felt like ages before he had finally found her. Maddison was up trying to help the wounded as well. She had a deep gash over her right eye and her arm was bleeding through her powder blue suit jacket. His heart lit when he saw her. He heard the fire trucks and rescue squads as they arrived at the scene.
" Maddison, are you okay?" Ray asked as the firemen ran past him trying to get to the fires. Several of the CSI's Hummers were nothing but scorched shells. The evidence was gone.
" I'm fine. Have you seen Horatio or any of the others?" Maddison asked as she began to walk. The smoke was clearing and now the full view of what had happened came into view. Maddison saw as several EMTs had already covered the ones that had perished.
" RJ is with his father and Jen is a couple of yards from them. Speedle has a crushed ankle and I think that Jen's got a little hearing loss, but other than that she seems to be fine." Ray said as he followed her. " You need to get checked out, Mad. That gash doesn't look so good."
" I'll be okay, Ray. C'mon we've got to find the rest of my team." Maddison said as she took a step. Feeling nauseous, she lost her footing. Ray caught her as she slid down. He motioned for an EMT to come over. He then heard his uncle's voice.
" Ray, is she okay?" Horatio asked weakly.
" She's okay, Uncle Hor— Oh God!" Ray exclaimed as he turned to see Horatio kneeling beside him with an obscene amount of blood draining from an extensive wound. Ray noticed as it was protruding from under the suit jacket. " Horatio, I need you to stay right here." Ray got up and took off his uncle's suit coat to reveal a piece of shrapnel as it jutted out from his side.
" This doesn't look promising, " Horatio said as he loss conscienceness.
" Horatio?" Ray said quietly. He then yelled for help. He watched as the EMTs picked up both Lieutenants and placed them in separate ambulances. His family had just been taken away from him and he didn't know if the man he thought of as his father was going to make it.
TBC...
A/N: this is going to be an extensive story... Hope you all are in it for the long haul :)